Monday, February 2, 2009

My wife Michele worked in retail cheese sales for many years, and her favorite part of the job was helping customers with choosing the perfect cheese for the occasion, as well as matching the cheese to the drinks being served. With so many cheeses, and so many beverages, this can be a daunting task for a host.

Since I have exclusive rights to Michele's extensive cheese pairing knowledge, I'll have to tell you about the Cheese Cupid. This interactive, animated guide was created by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board to promote their regional cheeses. It is one of the better online cheese pairing tools I've come across.

We took a trip up to Aaron Jonas' "Chef Within" Cooking School in Petaluma (future site of some Food Wishes film production), so I could do a few tests with my video camera. Since I had some lovely cheese samples sent to me from the aforementioned Wisconsinites, I thought I'd film Michele testing some of the cheese and beverage pairings.

You'll see the Cheese Cupid in the brief video clip below. It's simple to use, has cool graphics, and even features a (very) friendly female voice. Not only does she try and seduce you into falling in love with these cheeses, she also pronounces the names for you, so you can sound like a real gourmet at the store. Enjoy!

oh my goodness she's gorgeous Chef John! What a lucky chef you are! I love cheese. I probably eat too much. But I cannot stand the fat free stuff. What does Michelle think of fat free cheeses and if she likes any what kind?

I can't watch the video as well. I tried in the office (during lunch time of course) and at home. The problem was the same. I also tried the vimeo website amd it was a no go.Could you repost it, pleeeese!

GK Chesterton: “The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”

Voila: www.tastingtoeternity.com. This book is a poetic view of 30 of the best loved French cheeses with an additional two odes to cheese. Recipes, wine pairing, three short stories and an educational section complete the book.

From a hectic life in New York City to the peace and glories of the French countryside lead me to be the co-founder of www.fromages.com. Ten years later with the words of Pierre Androuet hammering on my brain:

“Cheese is the soul of the soil. It is the purest and most romantic link between humans and the earth.”

I took pen and paper; many reams later with the midnight oil burning Tasting to Eternity was born and self published.

I believe cheese and wine lovers should be told about this publication.